Kenya submitted a film for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film[nb 1] for the first time in 2012.[3] The award is handed out annually by the United States Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to a feature-length motion picture produced outside the United States that contains primarily non-English dialogue.[4] It was not created until the 1956 Academy Awards, in which a competitive Academy Award of Merit, known as the Best Foreign Language Film Award, was created for non-English speaking films, and has been given annually since.[5]
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has invited the film industries of various countries to submit their best film for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film since 1956.[5] The Foreign Language Film Award Committee oversees the process and reviews all the submitted films. Following this, they vote via secret ballot to determine the five nominees for the award.[4] Below is a list of the films that have been submitted by Kenya for review by the Academy for the award by year and the respective Academy Awards ceremony.
| Year (Ceremony) |
Film title used in nomination | Original title | Language(s) | Director | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 (85th) |
Nairobi Half Life[3] | Swahili | David 'Tosh' Gitonga | Not nominated | |
| 2017 (90th) |
Kati Kati[6] | Swahili, English | Mbithi Masya | Not nominated | |
| 2018 (91st) |
Supa Modo[7] | Swahili | Likarion Wainaina | Not nominated | |
| 2019 (92nd) |
Subira[8] | Subira | Ravneet Sippy Chadha | Not nominated | |
| 2020 (93rd) |
The Letter[9] | Barua | Maia Lekow, Chris King | Not nominated | |
| 2021 (94th) |
Mission to Rescue[10] | Mission to Rescue | Gilbert Lukalia | Not nominated | |
| 2022 (95th) |
TeraStorm | TeraStorm | Swahili, English | Andrew Kaggia | Not nominated |
| 2023 (96th) |
Mvera[11] | Swahili | Daudi Anguka | Not nominated | |
